Prof Educ 2: Foundation of special and Inclusive Education: Special Education

OUR LADY OF LOURDES COLLEGE FOUNDATION

College of Teacher Education
BSED Major sa Filipino
Vinzons Avenue, Daet, Camarines Norte
Tel, Number 154-721-3254

Prof Educ 2:
FOUNDATION OF SPECIAL
AND INCLUSIVE
EDUCATION
(prelim)

Module 1
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Nerissa C. Basto, LPT.

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Prof Educ 2: Foundation of special and Inclusive Education: Special Education

I INTRODUCTION
This chapter contains short overview of Special Education in the Philippines. It also presents
some data and background about person with disabilities in the Philippine setting. This will bring
awareness to the readers about the importance of understanding persons with disabilities and
how to best deal with their special needs.
Special Education in the Philippines is defined as the arrangement of teaching procedures,
adopted equuuipments and materials, accessible settings and other intervensions designed to
address the needs of students with learning differences, mental health issues, physical and
developmental disabilities, and giftedness.
This module presented some of the disabilities in the Philippine setting that include intellectual
disability, learning disability, emotional and behavioral disorders, autism, ADHD, speech defect,
visually impaired, hearing impaired, cerebral palsy, and gifted.

II OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the student will able to:
 Write one-paragraph essay explaining the meaning and significance of knowing students
diasbility.
 Complete the Venn diagram.
 Write a reflective essay explaining what they would do in a certain situation having
students with special needs and why.

III REVIEW OF PREREQUISITE

A. Define the following base on your own understanding. Indicate specific example in each.
 Disability
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

 Intellectual Disability
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

IV CONCEPT MAP
Definition
Types of Intellectual
Disability Foundation of Disability
Special and Iclusive
Education

1) Mobility and Physical Impairments

1) Impairment in Adaptive
2) Spinal Cord Disability
Skills
3) Head Injuries – Brain Disability 2) Impairment of intellectual
4) Vision Disability Functioning
5) Hearing Disability 3) The Onset is Between 0-18
6) Cognitive and Learning Disability Years of Age
7) Psychological Disorder Page 2 of 12
Prof Educ 2: Foundation of special and Inclusive Education: Special Education

V LESSON PROPER

SUB-TOPIC 1: DEFINITION AND TYPES OF DISABILITY

FUNNEL, KOUTOKIDIS, and LAWRENCE (2008), explain that the term disability broadly
describe the impairment in a person`s disability to function. These are caused by changes in
various subsystems of the boddy, or to mental health. They emphasized that the degree of
disability may range mild to moderate, severe, or profound. A person may also have multiple
disabilities. In the Philippines, this is in relation to Erikta`s (2010)report that disability refers to
any restriction or lack of ability (resulting from an impairment) to perform an activity in the
manner or the range considered normal for a human being. It was stressed that impairments
associated with disabilities may be physical, mental, or sensory motoe impairment such as total or
partial blindness, low vision, partial or total deafness, oral defect, having only one hand/no hands,
one leg/no legs, mild or severe cerebral palsy, retarded, mentally ill, mental retardation, and
multiple impairments.

They also discussed that the condition causing disability is classified by the medical community
as:
 Inherited (genetically transmitted)
 Congenital (caused by mother`s infection or other disease during pregnancy, embroyonic,
or fetal developmental irregularities, or by injury during or soon after birth.
 Acquired, such condition caused by illness or injury
 Unknown origin

Moreover, common special needs include learning disabilities, communication disabilities, and
behavioral disorders, physical disabilities, and developmental disabilities.

WADSWOTH (2008). Explaines that Learning Disability is a classification that includes severa;
areas of functioning in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner usually caused by
an unknown factor/s.

When the term Learning Disability is used, it describes a group of disorders characterized by
inadequate development of specific academic, language, and speech skills. Types of leaarrning
disabilities include reading disability (dyslexia), mathematics disability (dyscalculia), and writing
disability (dysgraphia).

DISABILITY SUB-CATEGORIES
1) Mobility and Physical Impairments – can be either an inborn or acquired with age problem.
It could also be the effect of a disease. People who have a broken bone also fall into this
category of disability. Includes people with varying types of physical disorder such as:
 Upper limb/s disability
 Lower limb/s disability
 Manual dexterity
 Disability in co-ordination with different organs of the body

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Prof Educ 2: Foundation of special and Inclusive Education: Special Education

2) Spinal Cord Disability – Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) can sometimes lead to lifelong disabilities.
This kind of injury mostly occurs due to severe accidents. The injury can be either
complete or incomplete. In an incomplete injury, the messeges conveyed by the spinal cord
are not completely lost. A complete injury esults in a total malfunction of the sensory
organs. In some cases spinal cords disability can be a birth defect.

3) Head Injuries – Brain Disability – a disability in the brain accurs due to a brain injury. The
magnitude of brain injury can range from mild, moderate, and severe. There are severe
cases of injury and are mainly because of external forces applied to the body parts.

There are two types of brain injuries:

 Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)
 Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) – results in emotional malfunctioning and behavioral
disturbance.

4) Vision Disability – there are large number of people that ssuffer from minor to various
serious vision disability and impairments. This injury can also result into some serious
problems or diseases like blindness and ocular trauma, to name a few. Some of the common
vision impairments includes scratched cornea, scratches on the sclera, diabetes related
eye conditions, dry eyes, and corneal graft.

5) Hearing Disability – it includes people that are completely or partially deaf. (Deaf is the
politically correct term for a person with hearing impairment). People who are partially
deaf can often use hearing aids to assist their hearing. Deafness can be evident at birth
or occur later in life from several biologic causes. For example, Meningitis can damage the
auditory nerve or the cochlea.

Deaf people use sign language as a means of communication. Hundred of sign languages are
applied around the world. In linguistic termas, sign language are as rich and complex as any
oral language, despite the commin misconception that they arfe not “real languages”.

6) Cognitive and Learning Disability – are kind of impairement present in people who are
suffering from dyslexia and various other learning difficulties and includes speech
disorders.

7) Psychological Disorder – affective Disorders. Disorder of mood or feeling states either

short or long term. Mental Health Impairment is the term used to describe people who
have experienced psychiatric problems or illness such as:

 Personality Disorders – define as deeply inadequate patterns of behavior and

thought of sufficient severity to cause significant impairment to day-to-day
activities.
 Schizophrenia – a mental disorder characterized by disturbances of thinking, mood,
and behavior.

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A child exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics to a marked degree of a long
duration of time that adversely affect the education:
 Difficulty to learne that canot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
 Difficulty to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationship with peers and
teachers.
 Inappropriate types of behavior (acting out against self or others) or feelings (expresses
the needs to harm self or others, low self-worth, etc.) under normal circumstances.
 A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
 A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school
problems.

Summary:
INITIALIZING DISORDERS
A child with an internalizing disorder is said too be suffering from depression, and experience
loss of interest in activities including social activities, work, and life. This goes woth one part
of the EBD federal definition; a general pervasive mood of depression of disturbed behavior.
Young adults between the ages of 19-32 can also suffer from anxiety, separation anxiety,
fears and phobias (trusting people), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), autism spectrum
disorders, and panic disorders.

EXTENAL DISORDERS
Words and phrases that are commonly used with children who externalized are extroverted,
under-controlled, and acting out. This includes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) and conduct disorders. These children act out their emotions instead of holding them
in, exhibiting behavior such as; fighting, bullying, cursing, and other forms of violence.

Study Question
a) In a form of essay, DISCUSS the meaning and the importance of knowing students
specific disability.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Answer to self-assessment question: There is no specific answer. Your score may vary in the
deepness and content of your answer.

SUB-TOPIC 2: INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY (ID), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairment of
mental capacity. Children with this kind of disability struggle to learn and to adopt with their
environment since their mental capacity do not match with their chronological age. It is hard for them to
learn complex and abstract ideas. Children with ID development slowly than their peers. Learning to sit,
crawl, walk, and talk are delayed. They can acquire new skills but it takes time before tthey can master
it. Learning new information and applying them in practical and functional manner is also challenging.

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Intellectual Disability was formely known as Mental Retardation (MR). The word “retarded” comes from
a Latin word “retardare” which means “delay, slow, or hinder”. This makes the definition of mental
retardation as mental delay. Back then, the term mental retardation does not give any shame that s why
this term became aa replacement to term such as idiot (profound mental retardation), imbecile (severe
and moderate mental retardation), and moron (mild mental retardation)

Mental Retardation also replaces s the term “Mongoloid or Mongolism”, a medical term to describe a
person with Down syndrome. During the 1960s, the term mental retardation started to acquire a
disgraceful and derogatory effect because this term is being used as an insult. At present, the term
intellectual disability or mentally challenge are used because it is more respectful than the term
retarded.

Intellectual Disability is not the same as Learning Disability. Learning Disability affects academic
learning such as reading, writing, and math. On the other hand, Intellectual Disability does not affects
the academic learning of the individual but also the experiential and social learning.

THREE MAIN DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY (Reynolds, [Link]

2015)
1) Impairment of intellectual Functioning – it is also known as “Intellegent Quotient (IQ). This
refers to the ability of the person to learn reason, solve problem, and make decisions. The
intelligence is measured by IQ test. The average IQ is 100 and if the person score 70 or below,
he s considered as intellectually disabled.

2) Impairment in Adaptive Skills – are life skills needed by the person to function in his daily life.
This adaptive skills is divided into three categories:
a) Conceptual skills – includes reading, writing, counting, time, money, and communication skills
b) Social Skills/Interpersonal Skill – including following social costums and obeying laws.
c) Practical Life Skill – include self-care, home living use of community resources, self-
direction, functional academic skills, leisure, health, and safety.

3) The Onset is Between 0-18 Years of Age – it is the classification of intellectual disability. On the
training module on mental retardation for teacher of Aida Damian (1996), intellectual disability
was classified according to the degree of mental retardation and educational category.
a) Mild Mental Retardation
 IQ level is 50-55 to approximately 70.
 They can acquire academic skills until the sixth grade level.
 They can support oneself totally or partially at adult level to some degree of
economic usefulness.
b) Moderate Mental Retardation
 IQ level is 35-40 to 50-55
 Can be trained in self-help skills such as; dressing, feeding, toileting, social
adjustment at home and to neighborhood, and to some degree of economic
usefulness.
c) Severe Mental Retardation
 IQ level is 20-25 to 35-40
 They can master the basic self-help skills and some communication skills.
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d) Profound Mental Retardation

 IQ level is bellow 20 or 25
 Result in severe limitation in self-care and communications.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

1) Physical Features – some medical condition such as Down Syndrome (Chromossomes 21), Fetal
Alcohol Syndrome, and Cerebral Palsy shows obvious signs that are noticeable. But some people
with intellectiual disability have a perfectly normal physical appearance.

2) Developmental Delay – children with intellectual disability experienced delay in their

developmental milestone. Compared with other children their own age, they sit, walk, and talk
later and they may have trouble feeding or dressing themselves.

3) Problems in Logical and Abstract Thought – children with intellectual disability struggle to learn
and retain new information as quickly as the other children their age. It`s hard for them to see
the relationship between similar but different things.

4) Behavior – These children may exhibit adaptive behavior to the demand of the environment. They
tend to have low impulse control and poor frustration tolerance. They may also have difficulty in
delaying gratification. Likewisw, they may show extreme behavior such as overly aggressive or
withdrawn due to lack of self-steem.

CAUSES OF INTELLECTUAL DISBILITY

I DOWN SYNDROME (TRISOMY 21)
It is the most common and best known of chromosomal abnormality associated with mental
retardation. This was introduced in 1959 by Dr. John Langdon Down. Down Syndrome is a
result of an accident in cell development results in 47 instead of 46 chromosomes. The real
cause of the Down syndrome is not yet known but it is attributed to thyroids problem, drugs,
and exposure to radiation. Maternal age can be the main reason. Parent of any age may have a
child with Down syndrome, but the incident is higher for women over 35.

Characteristic of Down Syndrome (Pierangelo (2003) and Gargiulo (2009))

1) Epicanthal Fold – slanting eyes with folds of skin at inner corner.
2) Simian Crease – short broad hands with short fingers and with single crease across
the palm.
3) Broad feet with short toes, short low-set ears, flat bridge of nose, short neck, small
head, and protruding [Link] muscles tone
4) Poor muscles tone
5) Prone to respiratory problem
6) Visual problem such as crossed eyed and far or short eye sighted
7) Mild to moderate hearing loss and speech difficulty
8) Heart problem
9) Gastrointestinal tract problems
10) Tendency to become obese
11) Leukemia
12) Thyroid problems

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TYPES OF DOWN SYNDROME

1) Fragile X Syndrome – a person with this kind of disorder has a weak or fragile X
chromosomes of the 23rd pair. This syndrome affects approximately one in 750 males
and about one in 1,250 females making it one of the most common inherited cause of
mental retardation (as cited by Gargiulo, 2009). Carrier men pass the permutation to
all their daughters but none of their sons. Each child of the carrier woman has a 50
percent change of inheriting the gene. (Pierangelo 2003)

Characteristics:
 Most boy have mental kgretardation
 1/3 to half of the girl has mental retardation and the rest have either learning
disability or normal IQ.
 Attention deficit, hyperactivity, speech and language problems
 Self-stimulatory behavior. Anxiety, and unstable mood
 Autistic-like behavior
 Large ears, long narrow face, prominent forehead, large head, enlarged
testicles, and flat feet
 Hyper extensive joints especially fingers

2) Prader-Willi Syndrome – it is first recognized as “syndrome” in 1956 by Prader,

Labhart, and Willi. It is now recognized as one of the most common micro deletion
syndromes and genetic causes of obesity. It is caused by a very small deletion of
chromosome 15. This disfunction of the hypothalamus affects physical growth, sexual
development, appetite, temperature control, and emotional stability. (Pierangelo 2003)

Characteristic:
 Impaired body control and mental etardation
 Hypotonia and poor motor control
 Short stature, narrow forehead, and small hands and feet
 Insatiable appetite and low metabolism
 High pain tolerance and low sensory input
 Behavior difficulties such as temper tantrums, stubbornness, noncompliance,
and resistance to change
 Shows signs of obsessive-compulsive disorfer
 Osteoporosis
 Thick viscous saliva
 Fair skin and light colored hair

3) William`s Syndome – it is rare disorder characterized by a deletion of chromosome 7

which can result to physical and developmental problems including mental retardation.

Symptoms:
 Elfin-like facial features
 Moderate to mild retardation
 Impulsive and outgoing personality
 Limited spatial skills and motor control

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 Heart and blood vessels problem

 Hypercalcemia – high blood calcium level
 Low birth weight, slow weight gain, and feeding problems
 Dental and kidney problems
 Hyperacusis – sensitive hearing
 Musculoskeletal

II METABOLIC AND NUTRITIONAL DISORDER

1) Galactosemia – infants are unable to process galactose, a form of sugar found in milk
and other products. Some indicator that an infant have this disorder are jaundice,
vomiting, cataracts, live damage, and mental retardation.
2) Phenylketonuria (PKU) – infant`s body are not able to process protein. They lack the
liver enzymes needed to process phenylalanine which is common to milk and other high-
proyein food product. If the enzymes phynylalanine is not metabolized by the body of
the affected infant, it will accumulate in the bloodstream and become toxic. This will
result to brain damage and mental retardation.

III DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDER OF THE BRAIN FORMATION

Cranial malformation can also result to mental retardation. One common condition is the
“microcephaaly”. It is characterized by a small head and severe retardation. The opposite of
this is the “hydrocephalus” characterized by enlargement of cranial cavity because there are
interference in the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. Another example is “anencephaly’ wherein a
large portion of the brain fails to develop properly. All three cranial malformation can lead to
mental retardation.

IV INFECTIONS
1) Rebulla or German Measles – exposure of the pregnant women during the first
trimester of her pregnancy can result a very serious consequences. It is highly
contagious disease that can result to mental retardation, vision, and defect, heart
problem, and low birth weight.
2) Sexually Transmitted Disease – Acquired Immune Defficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and
Herpes Simplex are also attributed to mental retardation. The infections are
transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected person or
sharing of hypodermic needles. The infection is capable of penetrating the placenta
during pregnancy and eventually attacking the central nervous system and also
damaging the immune system.
3) RH Incompatibility – according to the book, Mental Retardation 5 th Edition by Beirne-
Smith, Ittenback, and Patton (as cited by Gargiulo 2009), it is blood group
incompatibility between mother and unborn child. It is the result of RH factor, a
protein found on the surface of the red blood cell. RH positive blood contains this
protein but the RH negative does not. When the RH negative mother carries an RH
positive baby, her body will produce antibodies against any RH positive fetus. This
often lead to mental retardation, cerebral palsy, blind ness, microcephaly, and other
serious condition.

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4) Cytomegalovirus – it is a part of herpes group. Most women may develop immunity from
previous exposure to this virus. This can result to brain damage, blindness, and hearing
impairments.

V MATERNAL BEHAVIOR
Pregnant women who are reckless with their behavior can endanger the fetus in their womb.
Smoking, using illegal drugs, and drinking beverages can damage the central nervous system
and can lead to severe damage such as mental retardation, physical deformities, heart
defects, attention disorder and behavioral problems.

a) Perinatal Causes
The birth process is a difficult one. Some problems arise even at this stage that can lead
to any developmental delay like mental retardation. For instance, if the mother has
difficult and prolonged delivery or the umbilical cord was damage, this can lead to anoxia
(oxygen deprivation) or hypoxia (insufficient oxygen). Another example is the obstetrical
or birth trauma, wherein the improper use of forceps can lead to damage an infant`s
skull due to excessive pressure. Moreover, the delivery position may cause a problem. A
breech presentation may give the possibility of damage in the umbilical cord or an injury
in an infant`s head since the infant exit the birth canal buttocks or feet first instead of
a normal head-first presentation. Likewisw, precipitous birth can also be distressing to
the mother and the infant. This is fast labor that can only last less than three hours.
This may cause fetal injury or a head injury since the infant pass through the canal too
quickly.
b) Postnatal Causes
1) Infections
Even after birth, the infant is still vulnerable to development factors that can
affect his development. Childhood diseases such as mumps, measles, and chicken
pox can cause complication that can lead to meningitis. This is a viral infection
that can damage thee covering of the brain known as meninges. Likewise,
encephalisis is another overwhelming complication in which there is an
imflammation of brain tissue. Both viral infections can lead to the damage of the
central nervous system.
2) Environmental Factors
 Toxins
Kozma and Stock asserted in the book, Children with Mental Retardation
(as cited by Gioguli, 2009) lean and mercury poisoning are two
encvironmental toxins that can cause mild mental retardation. Children may
ingest lead from paint, crayons, toys, pencils, and the like. These toxins can
cause seizures and brain damage.
 Adverse Living Condition
Most children under socio-economic class are at risk of mental retardation.
Unfortunately situation such as nutritional problems, inadequate health
care, and lack of early cognitive stimulation, chils abuse, and neglect may
be associated to mental retardation.

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 Traumatic Brain Injury

The term is not used for a person who was born with a brain injury or
injuries that happen during birth. It is an acquired injury to the brain
caused by an external physical force (hit by something or being shaken
violently) resulting partial or total functional disability or psychosocial
impairement, or both and adversely affects a child`s educational
performance. (IDEA, as cited by Pierangelo, 2003).

COMMON SIGNS OF TBI

1) Difficulty in reading, writing, planning, understanding, and sequencing.
2) Problems in seeing, speaking, gearing, and using other senses.
3) Problems in short term and long term memory.
4) Changes in mood, anxiety, and depression.
5) Problems in balancing and walking.
6) Seizures

Summary:
Since intellectual disability is not a disorder, there is no cure. Children with this kind of disability
are capable of learning. Parents, teachers, and other professioonals should work hand in hand on
how to explore different options to train these individuals too become independent and self-
sufficient.

Study Question
Complete the Venn diagram below. Choose two types of disorder from types of Down Syndrome.

Answer to self-assessment question: There is no specific answer. Your score may vary in the
deepness and content of your answer.
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VI CONCEPT INVENTORY
Read each item carefully. Indicate on the answer sheet how well you think yu understand each
concept of the lesson using the numerical system below;
 1 – If you do not understand the concept at all.
 2 – You are not sure what the concept is.
 3 – You think you have a fair but not good understanding in the concept.
 4 – You think you understand the concept but not well enough to explain it.
 5 – You think you understand the concept well ang able to explain it clearly.

TOPIC 1 2 3 4 5
Definition of Disability
Types of Disability
Intellectual Disability

VII STUDY QUESTION

a) Write a reflective essay explaining what would you do in a certain situation having
students with special needs and why. Include a concrete example that really happens in a
classroom setting.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

VIII REFERENCES
 Elisheba D. De Vera, M.A., [Link], Special Education, Great Book Trading, 7B Cavite Street,
Brgy. Paltok West Avenue, Quezon City, 2016

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